SWEETWATER COUNTY — Sweetwater County Public Health Director Kim Lionberger responded to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) new guidelines that state fully vaccinated residents can now gather with other vaccinated residents indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to new guidance from the CDC.

Under the new CDC guidelines fully vaccinated people can:

• Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
• Visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
• Refrain from quarantine and testing following a known exposure if asymptomatic

Even though the CDC has created new guidelines allowing fully vaccinated residents to go without masks in certain circumstances, the CDC is also recommending residents who are fully vaccinated to continue wearing masks and social distancing in public places.

After hearing about the new guidelines related to the COVID-19 vaccine, SweetaterNOW reached out to Lionberger for her opinion on them.

“It will be interesting to see how these new guidelines will impact individuals desire to be vaccinated,” Lionberger said. “It is hard to encourage people to get vaccinated when recommendations make it feel pointless to get vaccinated.”

Previously, even when a resident received the vaccine they still has to wear masks, social distance, and quarantine if exposed to someone with COVID-19, Lionberger explained.

“Too often people are focused on how will it impact my quarantine or masking instead of choosing to become vaccinated because the vaccines are extremely effective at eliminating severe illness and hospitalizations,” Lionberger said. “That’s really what people should be considering when choosing to be vaccinated.”

Lionberger said she’s hopeful these new recommendations will encourage more residents to get the vaccine. She said if the majority of residents are protected against severe illness and hospitalizations by obtaining the vaccine, it will help the hospital from continued COVID-19 impacts.

Regardless of why someone chooses to get vaccinated, obviously the more people that do get vaccinated will have a direct impact on Sweetwater County residents.

~ Sweetwater County Public Health Director Kim Lionberger

What about those who already had the virus?

Lionberger said residents who have already contracted the virus should still receive the vaccine if they want to. She used her own experience with COVID-19 as an example of why some residents who contracted the virus are deciding to get vaccinated.

“I survived my bout with COVID-19 ok. Four months out though, I still notice shortness of breath while exercising that I didn’t have before getting COVID,” Lionberger said. “I didn’t want to risk getting infected again with COVID and potentially having a more serious case which is why I chose to get vaccinated.”

As for when to receive the vaccine after contracting the virus, Lionberger said some wait 90 days, while others decide to receive the vaccine after they are no longer contagious.

“Once you are no longer considered infectious, if you want to be vaccinated you can be,” Lionberger said.

Lionberger explained why 90 days is being used as the example. She said a resident who had COVID-19 doesn’t have to quarantine for up to 90 if they are exposed to a positive case after they are out of isolation.

For those who complete the vaccination series the concept is the same. Once it has been two weeks after a residents receives their last dose of the vaccine, they do not have to quarantine for 90 days if they are exposed to someone who tests positive for the virus.

“That’s not to say the vaccine only protects you for 90 days,” Lionbeger said. “It may last longer, we are still waiting for that information, however.”

As soon as public health receives more information, they will let media outlets know to get the information out. For now, she is just encouraging all of those who want to be vaccinated to contact public health of Castle Rock Medical Center. For more information on the vaccine click here.

The following are the CDC’s new guidelines

This is the first set of public health recommendations for fully vaccinated people. This guidance will be updated and expanded based on the level of community spread of SARS-CoV-2, the proportion of the population that is fully vaccinated, and the rapidly evolving science on COVID-19 vaccines.

For the purposes of this guidance, people are considered fully vaccinated for COVID-19 ≥2 weeks after they have received the second dose in a 2-dose series (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna), or ≥2 weeks after they have received a single-dose vaccine (Johnson and Johnson [J&J]/Janssen ).^†

The following recommendations apply to non-healthcare settings.

Fully vaccinated people can:

• Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
• Visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
• Refrain from quarantine and testing following a known exposure if asymptomatic

For now, fully vaccinated people should continue to:

• Take precautions in public like wearing a well-fitted mask and physical distancing
• Wear masks, practice physical distancing, and adhere to other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease or who have an unvaccinated household member who is at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease
• Wear masks, maintain physical distance, and practice other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple households
• Avoid medium- and large-sized in-person gatherings
• Get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms
• Follow guidance issued by individual employers
• Follow CDC and health department travel requirements and recommendations

For more information, visit the CDC’s website.